Rock kribensis

Care at a glance

Overview

This is a busy rock-picking cichlid from Lake Victoria that, despite the West African nickname, is an East African lake fish through and through. Keep it as a single specimen or a male-and-female pair rather than several males together, since rival males clash, and choose tankmates with some care because it defends a patch of rock. It works the bottom, picking small invertebrates from stone and crevice, so feed frozen bloodworm and mysis and a good cichlid pellet. It reaches about 12 centimeters, so give it around 250 liters with a sand base and plenty of rock mazes.

In the wild

It lives along rocky shores in the Mwanza Gulf and other parts of southern Lake Victoria, working boulders and crevices for food. Set up a tank with a sand floor and generous stacked rock that creates caves and winding gaps to patrol and defend. Keep the water warm at about 23 to 27 C and neutral to alkaline, roughly pH 7 to 8.5, hard and stable as the East African lakes require.

Good to know

Paralabidochromis sauvagei is a cichlid of the family Cichlidae, reaching about 12 centimeters. Its species name honors the French naturalist Henri Emile Sauvage. As a maternal mouthbrooder it is of moderate breeding difficulty, the female brooding eggs and fry in her mouth, and its trade nickname of rock kribensis comes from a krib-like barred blush rather than any real link to the West African kribs.

Did you know

Its common name is borrowed from a fish some two thousand miles away: the West African kribs it is nicknamed after are only a lookalike, so resemblance, not any close relationship, gave this Lake Victoria cichlid its name.

Common questions

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